“I remember hearing something,” Jared said. “I saw a black truck. And I got real scared.”
He continued to stroke his dog, which had fallen asleep in his lap. “Is that all you remember?”
Jared looked at me and nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. I was playing near here when I died. I can still play here, but if you keep going downstream, there’s a bunch of trees. I can’t go there. It scares me.”
“Jared, that could be important,” I said. “Do you think maybe you could show us? Take us as far as you can?”
Jared watched me carefully as he considered my request. “I’ll try.”
“Jared,” I said. “Why don’t you give me a moment alone with Payne so I can catch him up on everything you’ve told me? He’s being very patient. He can’t hear a thing you’re saying.”
“Yeah, I bet we’re driving him nuts.” Jared laughed. “Payne’s cool. I miss hanging out with him. I just wish he wouldn’t…” Jared stopped and looked intently at Payne. “I shouldn’t say anything, but let him know I’ve seen him a few times. He shouldn’t keep pushing his luck.”
Now what was that supposed to mean?
I went to Payne, making sure to keep an eye on Jared. I didn’t think he planned to leave, but sometimes spirits vanished on you when you weren’t looking. I quickly and quietly explained what Jared had told me, leaving out, at least for now, the last warning the young boy had asked me to pass along to Payne. Now was not the time for such a distraction.
“So the black truck,” Payne said after taking a moment to consider what I had told him. “Maybe it, like… hit Jared?”
“Maybe,” I agreed. “Spirits often don’t remember the exact moment of their death. We can’t assume that’s what happened. Not at this point.”
“So we follow him downstream,” Payne said. “And what are we looking for as we go?”
I shrugged. “Hopefully, we’ll know it when we see it. He may not be able to take us the entire way. But being with us…” I took Payne’s hand. “Being with you might help. He trusts you. Your being here helps him be less afraid. You may not be able to see it, but trust me, he loves you.”
“Let’s go then,” Payne said.
I gave him a reassuring smile and started toward Jared. I noticed Jared was standing away from us, waiting. His puppy was still dancing around his feet but never left his side.
We walked for a while in silence. Jared led the way, and Payne followed me. The silence was broken by the crunching of leaves and the snapping of the occasional branch someone stepped on. The stream flowed peacefully beside us.
As we proceeded, Jared’s face became more haunted. I could see the fear start to manifest itself on his features. Wherever we were going, we were getting close.
Then Jared stopped. He was transfixed on a cluster of trees and large rocks. Where before there had been fear, now it was abject terror written all over his face. My heart was breaking as I watched him struggle to take even one more step closer.
“I can’t,” he screamed. “I can’t get any closer! Please don’t make me.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” I once again used my calm voice. “You’re doing fine. We can stop here for a while.”
But Jared wasn’t hearing me. He was slowly stepping backwards, tears falling down his face. Eli the dog was no longer a small, playful puppy. He had grown into a full-size dog and was standing between Jared and the cluster of trees and rocks. Eli’s hackles were raised, and he bared his teeth, a low and menacing growl emanating from his throat.
“Jared,” I said. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
Jared wouldn’t look at me. His fear was so powerful, it was nearly painful. It started to engulf me, but I pushed it back. I needed to stay in control.
“Bristol.” Payne was by my side. “What’s happening?”
Before I could answer, Jared gave one last sob of defeat and then vanished, dog and all.
“He’s gone, isn’t he?” Payne asked.
I nodded.
Payne proceeded toward the cluster of rocks and trees. At first, he just stared as if he expected them to move aside for him. I had no doubt that if those rocks and trees could see the expression of anger on Payne’s face, they would have leapt out of his way. When they didn’t, Payne reached down, grabbed the largest rock, and started to roll it to the side. It looked pretty heavy, but Payne was determined to move it.
I went over and put my weight into helping. There were no words spoken between us. There wasn’t a need for them. Once we got the rock tipped over, it rolled to its side.
Payne dropped to his knees and stared at the ground. His face was calm and passive, but a moment later when he looked up at me, rage blazed within his eyes.
I reached down and scooped a bit of dirt into my hand. Gripping the soil within my palm, I felt myself pulled into a terrifying vision. I could hear a dog barking, smell the alcohol on someone’s breath, and feel the coolness of the dirt that was covering my face. I winced at the pain from an injury I could not identify. I could tell I was close to death, and this is where I would be buried. Alive.
The vision lasted only a moment, but when it ended, I gasped for breath and clutched at my side. Payne gripped me tightly and shook me gently back into the now.
“Bristol! Bristol, are you okay?”
I was hyperventilating, heaving for breath. I felt like I was suffocating, that the earth was going to swallow me alive. I thought of poor Jared, lying in that hole, hurt, bleeding, and dying as someone covered him in dirt. I could still hear his desperate pleas as he called out to his mother. I fell into Payne’s arms and wept. He stroked my hair until I was able to calm myself.
I had, on occasions, experienced the last moment of someone’s life. It had never been pleasant. It was something I avoided whenever I could. It was exhausting and terrifying.
“He’s here,” I said as I managed to support myself once again. Leaning back against the rock we had moved, I looked into Payne’s eyes. “He died here.”
Payne hesitated. I could feel the fury within him growing hotter by the moment. “What did you see?”
I closed my eyes at the memory. “He was lying here, dying. He was hurt.”
“Hurt how?”
“I’m not sure,” I snapped as I pushed myself up and stalked away. “I don’t know what happened. The memory only lasted a few seconds. I didn’t see or feel enough. It was right before… right as he…” I stopped as Payne put his arms around me.
“I’m sorry,” Payne whispered. “I never wanted you to have to go through this. I can’t imagine having to see that… to feel that…”
“I’m okay,” I said.
“I’m going to dig a bit,” Payne said. “I need to be able to say that we found him. Why don’t you work on what to tell your uncle and then give him a call? You have a cellphone on you?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’ll give him a call. I’ll figure something out.”
Payne walked toward the cluster of trees, and I pulled my cellphone out and dialed my uncle’s number. I quickly told him that I was with Payne, where we were, and what we believed we found. I could only imagine what thoughts passed through my uncle’s mind in that momentary pause before he responded. “Don’t touch anything and don’t move. I’m on my way.”
I conveyed this information to Payne, who nodded and came back over to me. “He doesn’t want us to disturb the evidence. I just dug enough to find the tip of a bone. I won’t do any more,” he explained. “Have you figured out what you’re gonna tell him when he gets here?”
I shrugged. “Not a clue.”
When Uncle Mark arrived, he parked up by the road and made his way down to us. I watched as Payne pointed to the spot where Jared was buried. Uncle Mark pulled on white gloves and told us to stay where we were as he went to investigate. Payne and I found a large rock and sat on it together. Somehow, we ended up holding hands as we waited.
When Uncle Mark approached us, I saw his eyes dart down to our hands. I could hear h
im groan, but he quickly pushed it aside. “Bristol, how exactly did you two find those remains?”
“I was just walking with Payne,” I started, trying to keep my voice even and sure. “We met here the other day, and we started to talk about… you know… stuff.”
Uncle Mark glanced at Payne. “Go on.”
“Well, um…” I tried to continue, but I hadn’t gotten much past this point in my mind.
“We heard a dog barking,” Payne jumped in. “It was digging right around that area, going crazy. We got a little closer, and the dog ran off. I went to see what it might have been digging at and saw the first of the bones. I told Bristol to call you. Once I realized what it was, I didn’t want to disturb the area any more than we had.”
“You mean more than the dog had,” my uncle corrected.
“Yeah.” Payne nodded, keeping a perfectly straight face. “Well, both of us, I guess.”
“Uh-huh,” my uncle said before turning to me. “And what kind of dog was it?”
“Um,” I stammered. What did I know? I couldn’t even remember what kind of dogs Larry and Spock were. “I don’t know. Black. Long tail. Floppy ears. You know. A dog.” I decided to go with a basic description of Eli.
Uncle Mark paused a moment and just looked at us. I felt like a perp in an interrogation room with a hot light shining in my face while an entire squad of burly cops cracked their knuckles, getting in my face with their whiskey-soaked breath. Of course, that might have been a little overdramatic.
Finally, Uncle Mark reached in his pocket and pulled out a cellphone. He called the station and started to give out orders. I felt a wave of relief.
“Okay, my people are on their way,” Uncle Mark said. “Now, if that’s not Jared, I’ll be surprised. All the same, we have to proceed carefully and methodically. Gather evidence. If it’s him, we’ll find out, and your aunt will be able to finally put her son to rest.”
“I understand, Sheriff, that you have a job to do. I’m certainly not going to tell you how to do it. But I know that’s my cousin.” Payne glanced toward where the body lay. “And I think I have a fairly good idea of what happened.”
“And what do you think happened here, Payne?” Uncle Mark asked.
Payne turned toward where the road passed above us and pointed. “That stretch of road up there. Pretty isolated. Sometimes kids go there to play. Jared did with his dog. I told him not to, but he did. Lots of trees to climb.”
Uncle Mark nodded. “Yeah, I’m familiar with the place. As well as the idea of telling kids that they shouldn’t do things that could be dangerous and being ignored.”
“We’re not talking about me here, Sheriff,” Payne snapped.
“I know, Payne.” Uncle Mark sighed. “Just trying to make the point. I’ve lost sleep at night worrying about you and your shenanigans. I’d hate to see something happen to you.”
“I was always told Blackburns don’t worry about McKnights, and McKnights shouldn’t worry about Blackburns.”
“And I know that you know that’s a bunch of hooey. But anyway, get on with your theory,” Uncle Mark instructed.
“You know Boomers Bar? Not too far down the road. Real classy place.” His tone told me it was anything but. “I know some of Boomer’s customers have been known to use this general area for certain things.”
“Things?” I asked, trying to keep up. “What things?”
“Peeing. Puking,” Uncle Mark answered. “Maybe a few other things one might do when leaving a bar plastered.”
“Ah-ha,” I said. “Sounds lovely. First off, remind me never to go to Boomers. Second off, why would Jared, or any other kid, want to be there?”
“Boys are different than girls,” Payne answered. “Especially at that age. What grosses you out make us go cool!”
I raised my eyebrows. “Really?”
“Strange but true,” Uncle Mark said. “But we’re getting off track here.”
“So we are.” Payne smiled. “Bristol has a way of distracting me.”
I felt myself blush at his comment and thanked God he didn’t elaborate. I had no idea what Uncle Mark was thinking right about then, but I was sure I would get an earful soon enough.
“So, here’s what I’m guessing,” Payne continued. “I think that one of Boomer’s customers left after tying one too many on, and went there to do whatever, and accidentally hit Jared while driving drunk.”
My uncle glanced behind him, where the still officially unidentified body lay. “You’re thinking he was killed by a drunk driver?”
“Yeah,” Payne confirmed. “Then they buried him here to cover it up.”
As Uncle Mark considered Payne’s theory, I could sense a cold fury welling inside of Payne. He was hiding it well, but there was a lethal anger boiling within him.
“It’s possible,” Uncle Mark allowed. “But there are other possibilities as well. I don’t want you to go off and start accusing anybody until we have more facts. Understand, Payne?”
Payne looked up as some of the deputies started to approach.
“I understand exactly what you’re saying, Sheriff Blackburn,” Payne answered.
There was a moment of silence, and I waited to see if Uncle Mark would point out to Payne that there was a difference between understanding and obeying.
Payne and I moved off a bit and watched as everyone did their jobs. Every few minutes or so, I would catch someone glancing in our direction. I couldn’t tell if they were glancing at me, at Payne, or at the two of us together. The exception was a young, blond female deputy, who was very clearly looking at Payne. I found myself getting a little pissy over it, but was satisfied that Payne never glanced in her direction. He remained fixated on the area where the remains were being worked on.
Then it happened. My uncle’s face changed. It was subtle, but if you were watching carefully you could see it. He reached down, took something, and brought it to Payne.
“Payne, this isn’t proof positive but…” My uncle held out a dirty blue cap with “NY Giants” written on the front.
“It’s his,” Payne said.
Uncle Mark didn’t argue. “I’m sorry. I had always hoped…”
Payne nodded. “I know you did. I know you never stopped looking. You’ve followed up on any lead, no matter how small. You’ve even looked in on my aunt to let her know that you’ve never forgotten.”
“I haven’t, and I won’t,” Uncle Mark affirmed. “I’ll find who did this. We aren’t supposed to make promises, but I give you my word I will find whoever did this.”
“I know what your word is worth, sir,” Payne replied.
Uncle Mark sighed. “Come on. I’ll take you home after I drop Bristol off. I’ve got to go see your aunt.”
Payne nodded. “I should go, too, sir. She’ll need me.”
“Payne,” Uncle Mark said, “you’re only seventeen. You shouldn’t take the weight of this on your shoulders. I can call another family member to meet me there. Your grandfather…”
“No, sir,” Payne said. “This is my responsibility. I need to do this. Please.”
Uncle Mark nodded. “Okay, let’s drop Bristol at home first and then…”
“I can walk, Uncle Mark,” I said. “I’d kinda like to. I could use the walk to clear my head. We’re not far from home.”
Uncle Mark didn’t look pleased, but after a moment’s thought, he agreed. He told Payne to give him a few minutes to talk to his deputies, which gave me a moment alone with Payne.
“Thank you, Bristol,” Payne said. “For everything.”
I smiled back. “I’m just glad I could help. Let your aunt know I’ll be thinking of her. If there’s anything else I can do to help, please let me know. I’ll find you if I hear anything that might help.”
Payne nodded his understanding. If Jared were to tell me anything, I’d bring it to him.
“I intend to see you again, Bristol,” Payne said. “When there are no ghosts getting between us.”
The intensi
ty of his gaze made me quiver. All of the visions I’d had over the years came rushing back to me. It was easy to dismiss the ones of him killing me. They seemed completely irrelevant now. But the others, the ones where he and I were us, they seemed not only possible but scarier than ever. I’ve never had any problem talking to the dead. Ghosts had never scared me, not once in my life. But the idea of being the object of Payne McKnight’s affection, that scared the living daylights out of me.
Payne could read the panic in my eyes. If anything, it amused him. He leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss on my cheek. “See you,” he said. And then with a last wink, he turned and headed toward Uncle Mark.
I watched him go. I couldn’t help but admire how he filled out his jeans. I knew without a doubt that I was way out of my league.
I turned and headed home. As much as I liked watching Payne, I did not want Payne to see me watching him.
Besides, I had to get some distance from everyone for a different reason. As I walked, I tried not to glance at the boy who walked beside me, his little dog trotting along between us.
“It’ll be over soon,” I told Jared. “You’ll be put to rest. Your family will mourn you, and they’ll never get over you, but they can at least start to heal.”
“I know,” Jared said. “Thanks.”
“Can I ask you a question? I got the impression that Payne believes there’s a certain someone who might be responsible for your death. Someone, I guess, who’s known for drinking and driving. Any idea who?”
“Yeah, he’s thinking about his dad,” Jared said. “But I really have no idea if he’s right or not.”
Chapter Six
A Chat With Grandpa
My head was spinning as I made my way back to the house. This was a lot to take in on a Monday. No matter how many times I tried to wrap my mind around it, I couldn’t believe it. Payne McKnight had nearly kissed me. Payne McKnight had wanted to kiss me! And if he got the chance, I was pretty sure Payne McKnight was going to kiss me. I was getting all gooey inside just thinking about it.
I didn’t do gooey.
I never really thought I would ever have a chance at a boyfriend. I could never let any other guy near me. Just the thought of someone else’s hands on me felt like I was being unfaithful to the boy I felt I belonged to, even though we hadn’t met.
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